Rich

Given its origins as a simplistic tower defence video game, Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare can definitely be seen to be punching well above its weight here as an incredibly enjoyable and impressively colourful shooter. The tower defence of the original title hasn’t entirely disappeared as there’s still a ‘Garden Ops’ gameplay mode which allows you to defend your garden against hordes of zombies either solo or as a group, with the other two gameplay modes this is strictly a third-person shooter, however, and a pretty successful one at that.

At its very heart, Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare is a multiplayer video game where teamwork is of the utmost importance. Although the Garden Ops game mode is playable solo, even this mode is pretty multiplayer dependent as whilst you could try to defend your garden against swarms of zombies alone, it’s going to be an incredibly difficult task due to the absolute volume of zombies that the game throws at you, and this gameplay mode is therefore best enjoyed with four players. The key to Garden Ops success is communication, working as a team to take down the various waves of zombies and bosses that are thrown at you. It’ll be the most recognisable Plants vs. Zombies gameplay mode to those that are familiar with the original tower defence title, some of the fun of the game is arguably taken out of the game in this 3D transfer, however, and it is probably actually the Team Vanquish/Gardens & Graveyards multiplayer modes that provide the most satisfying gaming experience with their focus on human player combat.

In the Team Vanquish/Gardens & Graveyards multiplayer modes you take charge of either the Plants or the Zombies and each has four different classes to choose from. On the Plants side you have the Peashooter, Chomper, Sunflower, and Cactus classes, whilst on the Zombies side there are the Foot Soldier, Engineer, Scientist, and All Star classes. Both sides seem fairly well matched up in terms of the abilities that the various classes have available to them, if you’re on the Zombies side the Chomper’s can definitely be frustrating at times though, glooping you and leaving you fairly powerless to resist as they then take you down with an underground attack, and the Sunflower’s can also be incredibly quick to replenish other plants’ health when you’re shooting at them, something that can be fairly frustrating at times when you’re on the Zombie side but certainly a very welcome bonus when you’re on the Plants’ team.

The biggest problem that Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare probably faces as a title is finding its target market. As a game that is arguably at its most enjoyable as a multiplayer third-person shooter title, Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare’s key strength is therefore very different to the game that it stems from, although it’s equally as colourful as the original with its incredibly fun and quirky cartoon graphics. If you played and enjoyed the original tower defence games then it’s possible that you’ll also quite enjoy this, it’s not quite so much of a casual gamer experience than the game that it came from though due to its multplayer nature, and just because you liked the original games doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll also enjoy Garden Warfare. On the flipside of this, if the original games weren’t really your bag, you may still enjoy the Team Vanquish/Gardens & Graveyards gameplay modes of Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare as they really do provide a very different gaming experience to what the original title did. The problem that the game faces from a marketing perspective then is that it falls between two markets. With the Plants vs. Zombies name attached to the title, people may immediately write the game off based on their perceptions of the series from past titles, or they may come into the game expecting an entirely different experience to what they’re met with. It’s a fun game, but it’s also difficult to pinpoint exactly what market the game is intended for.

Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare is an impressive game and those that enjoy it will no doubt invest a lot of hours into the game, but with the unlock system that’s in place it can certainly feel like a bit of a frustrating experience when you first start out and are yet to unlock special weaponry and customisation items that will make you a more effective team player. Microtransactions are not currently a factor of the title, but with the sticker pack system that’s in place where you can acquire new customisation, upgrades, and characters, it seems possible that this could well be something that will be implemented at a later date.

Whilst Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare can’t really be seen as a Titanfall rival and definitely won’t be as much of a system seller, it’s certainly a very fun shooting game to consider if you own an Xbox One/Xbox 360, and although many were probably sceptical before the game’s release about how well Plants vs. Zombies would really translate to a third-person shooter, it has actually been pretty successfully done and PopCap really have done a very impressive job in taking the basic components of a tower defence game and turning it into an extremely addictive shooter. It’s an obviously low budget title and there are a fairly limited number of maps to play through, the price of the title seems to be a fair reflection of this though, and just as with the Titanfall Beta that also featured a limited number of maps, you can certainly enjoy many happy hours of gameplay with Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare and happily rank up through the level system.

The cutesy look of Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare will no doubt be off-putting for some and there are bound to be plenty of people out there that write the game off before they even play it, if you’re willing to give this game a chance though then you may just like what you find. It may not be the most complete or original game ever released, it’s an incredibly colourful and fun game though